FLAGSTAFF – Take your pick of any cliche about being the replacement for an outstanding player — Northern Arizona running back Casey Jahn fits them all.

As the successor to Zach Bauman — last year's record-setting running back who rushed for 1,456 yards, led the team with 44 receptions and recorded nine touchdowns — Jahn has a tall order, is walking in Bauman's shadow and has big shoes to fill.

But when Bauman's name comes up, Jahn dismisses the comparison.

"I mean, Zach led the way for us," Jahn said. "He set the standard, so I'm always trying to play up to the standard that he set. I would call it, not that I'm being compared to him, but he's set a standard, and I'm going to work up to that."

By all accounts, Jahn is correct: The two are incomparable players. Bauman was a more-direct, breakaway running back, and Jahn is a player who dances laterally before zipping through defenses. And tucked away behind Bauman for two years, it's easy to forget the 5-foot-11 Jahn has the potential, and certainly the resume, to make a significant impact as a starter.

In high school, Jahn helped Phoenix Northwest Christian to its first state championship in 2010, as a junior, and was named azcentral sports' Small Schools Player of the Year in 2011 after leading the state in rushing and scoring as a senior.

As a freshman at NAU, the Peoria native played in eight games, rushing for 306 yards. He gained 212 yards as a sophomore — far behind Bauman's total but still the second-most on the team — in 2013.

Jahn kicked off his junior year with a 65-yard run during the Lumberjacks' first preseason scrimmage Aug. 16.

Coach Jerome Souers said making Jahn the starter was a no-brainer.

"He's been here for a couple years now, but when we recruited him, as good a football player as he is, he has great character, great attitude; he's a guy that'll work everybody around him, so he's a good tempo-setter on the team. He's one of those guys," Souers said.

"I think he's deceptively fast; he's faster than he looks, and he's a very physical back. So he gives us a combination of protection, hard yards, and he's not bad in an open field, either."

When he does get into the open field, Jahn is a favorite target of close friend and starting quarterback Kyren Poe.

This season, Jahn will share the offensive load with Poe. Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello has restructured the offense to lean more on Poe than it did last year.

Scangarello makes it clear the change doesn't reflect a lack of faith in Jahn. In fact, the offensive coordinator nearly gushes when speaking of his running back.

"I knew he was going to be a great replacement for Zach Bauman," Scangarello said.

He pointed to Jahn's seeming nonchalance about replacing Bauman as fearlessness. It's the "X factor" that, combined with ability and experience, makes Jahn uniquely suited to live up to Bauman's high standards.

"He came in here as a freshman, he played as a true freshman … and he went out in the first game he ever played against ASU and was ready to play. He was not fazed by the big crowd, the bigger school; we knew at that moment the guy could compete," Scangarello said.